Putting Saudi women first: Glowork's Khalid Alkhudair

“Everyone thought I was insane,” says Khalid Alkhudair. “It was really difficult. Nobody liked the idea.”

Four years ago, the 28-year-old Alkhudair left a comfortable job at auditor KPMG and set up Glowork, a company that focuses on solving female unemployment in Saudi Arabia. By his own estimates, Glowork has now helped over 26,000 women find direct jobs in the kingdom, while a far greater number have benefited from access to the firm’s advice and career fairs.

In the process, Glowork has gone from three employees to 63 and is building on its extensive database to create a giant that aims to tap into a hugely lucrative market. From e-commerce to apps, and from gyms to rapid regional expansion, the ambitious founder says his firm could soon be worth over a billion dollars.

From a wider perspective, Glowork has been at the heart of quiet yet seismic shift in the Arab world’s largest economy, which has been slow to recognise the vital contribution that women can make to the workforce. There are now eight times as many working Saudi women – 490,000 in total – than there were four years ago.

Original article by Ed Attwood

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Putting Saudi women first: Glowork’s Khalid Alkhudair